Research could be path to new energy sources

Jul 11, 2011 By Paul Schattenberg

Botryococcus braunii, Race B, is an ancient, colony-forming green alga that has attracted interest because it accumulates large amounts of high-value, petrochemical replacement oils. The oil oozing from the algal colony is evident in this picture. (Photograph courtesy of Taylor Weiss, Andreas Holzenburg, Stanislav Vitha and Timothy P. Devarenne at Texas A&M University.)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers led by University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Professor Joe Chappell is making a connection from prehistoric times to the present that could result in being able to genetically create a replacement for oil and coal shale deposits. This could have fundamental implications for the future of the earths energy supply.

Tom Niehaus, completing his doctorate in the Chappell laboratory; Shigeru Okada, a sabbatical professor from the aquatic biosciences department at the University of Tokyo; Tim Devarenne, a UK graduate and now professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University; and UK colleagues, Chappell, David Watt, professor of cellular and molecular biochemistry (College of Medicine) and his post-doctoral associate Vitaliy Sviripa had an important paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Their research findings go well beyond the basic science dealing with the origins of oil and coal.

While scientists previously established that oil and coal have their roots in the organisms that lived on the planet over 500 million years ago, researchers only are sure of one organism that directly contributed to these natural resources. That organism is the algae Botryococcus braunii which left behind its chemical fingerprints  an oil that over geological time has turned into oil and coal shale deposits.

Even more exciting is that this unique algae, B. braunii, still exists today and has been the target of studies from the large chemical and petrochemical industries, said Chappell.

This algae is very slow growing, so it is not necessarily a good source for biofuels. However, if scientists can capture its genetic blueprints for the biosynthesis of these high value oils, then these genes could be used to generate alternative production platforms.

This team of investigators isolated the necessary genes, characterized the biochemical traits encoded by these genes, and then genetically engineered yeast to produce this very high-value oil. This work has provided the first example of recreating a true direct replacement for oil and coal shale deposits.

Chappell said, This represents the culmination of an outstanding effort to understand a fundamental process that has direct ramifications for a real-world problem  how are we going to generate a truly renewable biofuel supply?

Devarenne added, This study identifies a very remarkable molecular mechanism for the production of hydrocarbons that, as far as we can tell, is not found in any other organism. Thus, it offers a unique insight into how hydrocarbons were produced hundreds of millions of years ago.

New technology that combines production of electricity with capture of carbon dioxide could make billions of barrels of oil shale  now regarded as off-limits because of the huge amounts of carbon dioxide released in ...

With oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel, coal is reemerging as a key raw material in the manufacture of the basic chemical materials used to make plastics, fertilizers, and hundreds of other products, according to ...

With oil prices reaching near near-record highs in recent weeks, calls have grown louder for the U.S. to develop new sources of affordable, domestic energy. Work by experts from The Earth Institute at Columbia University ...

Similar to humans and animals, plants possess an innate immune system that protects them from invading pathogens. Molecular structures that only occur in pathogens enable their recognition and trigger the ...

A new study into the generalist parasite Albugo candida (A. candida), cause of white rust of brassicas, has revealed key insights into the evolution of plant diseases to aid agriculture and global food security.

You might resemble or act more like your mother, but a novel research study from UNC School of Medicine researchers reveals that mammals are genetically more like their dads. Specifically, the research shows ...

There are GM organisms that can produce nearly pour in your vehicle ready bio-diesel fuel right now, why would we want to use organisms that are slow?

Oh, and stealthc, you fundamentally fail to understand what the danger of fossil fuels are. If you are worried about AGW, fossil fuels represent adding CO2 into the carbon cycle above ground. However if the fuel is "grown" above ground, you are soaking up CO2 from the carbon cycle and re-releasing it when it is burned, hence it then becomes carbon neutral.

Also, fossil fuels come with a whole host of toxins, like sulfur, cyanide, dioxins, cadmium, mercury, lead, and quantities of radioactive materials like uranium and thorium.

Bio-fuel crops and algae hydroponics produce bio-diesel that has none of those toxins.

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.

Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript.
In order to enable it, please see these instructions.